No more AFSPA: Army vs state
Strong weapon use in J&K
BY HAMEED NABI
Truth is the biggest casualty in a war is one fact that the
people of Jammu and Kashmir has long come to live in violence and in peace. Since the first footprint of security forces in Kashmir valley more than
two decades ago, much water has flown down the river Jhelum. This long journey has been dotted with scarlet due to blood splattered on both the sides.
Many young men lost their lives, women widowed, children orphaned and the long list of causalities have left an indelible scar in the history of the
state. The biggest victim in this checkered history of the state has been the honour and the dignity of human life. A person gets killed in a
crossfire - his family have a right to know the truth behind the bullet. People are killed and thrown in a mass grave - they have a right to be owned
by some name and identity. A father’s eyes eagerly awaiting the return of his son caught by security forces- he has a right to know whether his
son is alive or not.
In the March of 2000, there occurred two events in quick succession that have altered the perception of the state as a
battleground between the security forces and the perpetuators of violence on one side and security forces and common man on the other side. On 20th of
March, 2000, unidentified gunmen entered Chattisinghpora village in Anantnag district massacring 35 members of Sikh community. Five days later on 25
March, 2000 five persons branded as Lashkar-e-Toiba militants and responsible for gunning of 36 Sikhs at Chattisinghpora were gunned down by army
personnel at Pathribal in South Kashmir. After much hue and cry from the public the then Chief Minister announced judicial probe into the incident
which was later handed over to the CBI. In 2006 the CBI indicted five officers of the Army Brigadier Ajay Saxena, Lt Col Brajendra Pratap Singh, Major
Sourabh Sharma, Major Amit Saxena, Subedar Idrees Khan and others as having prima facie case for killing five innocent persons in cold blood in a fake
encounter. But after ten long years not even a needle of action has been taken against the erring officers because of Army staking its claim of having
immunity for its actions in J&K under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
However, in a landmark judgment by the Supreme Court, it has
taken the Army to task for not initiating court martial proceedings against the officers involved in the Pathribal fake encounter and holding justice
to ransom in the garb of immunity enjoyed by security forces in J&K under AFSPA. This has again brought into the foray how security forces have
jeopardised human lives for mere elevation of the ranks of Army officers. This was one among the many cases that has managed to shake the Supreme
Court. But there are many lying silently under the graves that needs to be dug up.
While these twin incidents have remained in political discourse
of Jammu and Kashmir for a long time, there is one side of the story which has remained untold. It is about the unwritten code among the security
forces of their honour being judged by the number of killings they register. From there starts the mad run of one-upmanship among the various forces
posted in J&K as to who takes a lead. But it not the head count that counts but whose head it is- that counts. Army officers find J&K a lucrative
fishing ground for medals and in this rush to gain promotions fall into the lure of fake encounters. All this becomes much easier when they are doubly
armed with immunity against legal action or cross questioning which they enjoy due to AFSPA.
Security forces were first pressed into action
within the state in the early 90s when the situation was highly volatile and the local police threw their hands in air declaring haplessness in
handling the situation. With the coming of security forces and their taking control of the valley, areas within the state were grouped under disturbed
areas. With the Disturbed Areas Act, the security forces also felt the need of giving special protection to their personnel in the form of blanket
immunity for their actions taken for controlling militancy and came AFSPA. This draconian law that came in the state under special circumstances was
here to stay and become a strong weapon of use and abuse for the last 20 years. While nobody questions the need of special protection required by
security forces in tackling militancy, at the same time some checks and balances needs to be put in place to control it gross misuse. While more than
1000 human rights violation cases have been filed against the security forces in the state but the officers involved in the rights abuse can be put on
trial only after the approval by centre or the Ministry of Defense. Statistics about the number of sanctions given by the Centre to initiate criminal
proceedings against the personnel involved in human rights abuse is not very encouraging. All this has raised doubts among the common men regarding
their safety and the outlet he must search for to dig out the truth from behind the closed walls.
The state of Jammu and Kashmir is today
poised at a crucial juncture. It is striving to come out of its violent past and carve out a bright and peaceful future. Change in perception of the
state from being violence infested to a peaceful one is the first step that needs to be taken. A state which is in complete control of security forces
and where the citizens cannot question the actions taken by the security forces can never infuse confidence among the nations about normalcy returning
to the valley. Already the state government has reduced foot prints of paramilitary forces from the cities. Army has been restricted to far-flung and
border districts. While the role of Army in the valley has been curtailed, a similar initiative needs to be taken to revoke AFSPA from the areas where
Army is no longer proactive. Step by step curtailment of AFSPA will lift the burden from the mindset of the people enabling them to come forward with
greater confidence in contributing to the peace and prosperity of the state.
While Omar Abdullah has been pursuing the demand of partial
revocation of AFSPA from the state with the centre for a long time, the centre has been reluctant in giving a go ahead to this demand. Army on the
other hand is maintaining that revocation of AFSPA would tie the hands of the Army and have a counterproductive effect. But time has come when centre
and the Army has to accept the hard reality that it has long misused AFSPA in the state as is evident from the Supreme Court’s strong
reservations in allowing the guilty officers involved in committing heinous crime of killing innocent men in cold blood go scot free. Army is one
institution that is held in high esteem by all Indians. It is the pride and the honour of the Army which is at stake and for that it has to come clean
on issues like fake encounters and gross misuse of AFSPA. Centre government will have to understand that coercion is not the best manner to win over
the hearts of the people of Kashmir. It has to revoke draconian laws like AFSPA and induce greater transparency in the functioning of its security
forces. It should not lose the opportunity thrown by the Apex Court judgement by initiating the proceedings against the alleged culprits in a
transparent manner to infuse confidence among the people of J&K. It may not be forgotten that putting the skeletons in a closet will not make them
disappear, they will return to haunt this nation for generations to come.
Feedback at:- hameednabi@ gmail.com
[Kashmir Times]
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